Resource centre for ZX Spectrum games
using Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy game engines
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Manic Miner & Jet Set Willy Yahoo! Group
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Message: 6553
Author: andrewbroad
Date: 28/05/2009
Subject: ANNOUNCE: JSW64 Manic Miner: James Bond [v1.1]
I am delighted to announce the second gamma-release of JSW64 Manic Miner: James Bond (v1.1), which is available as a free download from:
http://tinyurl.com/andrewbroad-spectrum-download
v1.1 adds a room called "Quantum of Solace". I've also produced an easy variant of the entire game (to reduce stressful or frustrating manoeuvres without eliminating my beloved quirky features), and room-by room documentation - including a thorough list of playing-tips that should cover anything you might be stuck on.
The game is based on the James Bond character created by Ian Fleming, and has 22 rooms, each corresponding to one of the official James Bond 007 films produced by EON Productions (please don't sue me; I'm making no money out of this whatsoever, so just think of it as free advertising that might attract a few more people to the James Bond franchise).
The game is based on John Elliott's JSW64 engine (Variant Z), which combines almost all the features of Matthew Smith's classic Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy, and adds novel features such as new guardians (e.g. diagonal guardians, fast horizontal guardians, triggers and stoppers), new cell-types (Trap-cells feature quite a lot in my game), the ability to have up to 16 different cell-classes in a room (each with its own cell-type, pixel-pattern and colour-attribute), and the ability to enable superjump on a room-by-room basis. In particular, this game is based on John Elliott's conversion of Manic Miner to JSW64.
Using the JSW64 engine has enhanced the game technically, visually and atmospherically. The ability to have different-coloured Air-cells in each room has helped me to capture the atmosphere of two or three locations from each Bond-film.
Although JSW64MM:JB uses features that originated in JSW (such as ramps, arrows and (non-swinging) ropes), it is essentially a Manic Miner game: the only way out of each room is via the portal, which opens (turns red) after you have collected all the items in the room without losing a life (in this game, you only live twice).
On top of the JSW64:Z engine, I have applied several patches of my own: most notably Broadsoft Lifts (allowing you to stand on certain horizontal and vertical guardians), and I have knocked out all the exits at the edges of the screen so that instead of being taken to another room, you wrap around just like in the Manic Miner sequels that allow this. I have also reused Geoff Eddy's patch-vector to flip Willy's horizontal position every 32 time-frames in "The Man with the Golden Gun".
The difficulty of my MM/JSW games is always severe, and JSW64MM:JB is no exception! It's full of quirky features and tight manoeuvres, often requiring pixel-perfect jumps, sometimes with perfect timing. Each room is an intricate network of constraints, forcing you to face every single one of my intended challenges, though you do sometimes have to make difficult choices about the order in which you do things. My use of Crumbly cells, the relationships between guardians, and their relationships with conveyors, all mean that the consequences of your mistakes may return to haunt you several minutes later!
I plan to extend my game as future Bond-films are released. Bond 23 is due in cinemas in 2011, so that shall be added in v1.2.
I have also updated the MM/JSW section of my website (including my List of MM/JSW Games):
http://tinyurl.com/andrewbroad-mmjsw
--
Dr. Andrew Broad
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